GURPS Banestorm was published 11 years ago - very early in the life cycle of GURPS 4E, in other words. And since then, a vast number of new character options have been published for the system, including but not limited to new styles of magic and supernatural powers.

Therefore my question: Which of these new options would you include with the setting today, in a manner that fits into the overall "spirit" of the world? And how would you adjust them and fit them into the local cultural context?

Divine Favor, my go to system for everything from clerics to Force users. I don't think it needs to be changed much to fit in Banestorm, not that I know the setting very well.

I personally don't think it fits the setting well at all, at least not unless it's a really rare trait. It's a world where wizardly magic exists, but there's nothing provable about religion other than demons and Hell being confirmed real so that there's still room for religious conflict between say Catholics and Protestants, Christians and Muslims, Sunni and Shiite, and so on without having to say one side in a given conflict is right and the other is wrong. Because God doesn't grant any of their priests superpowers, nor do any of the pagan gods worshipped in Sahud or the barbarian lands.

I personally don't think it fits the setting well at all, at least not unless it's a really rare trait. It's a world where wizardly magic exists, but there's nothing provable about religion other than demons and Hell being confirmed real so that there's still room for religious conflict between say Catholics and Protestants, Christians and Muslims, Sunni and Shiite, and so on without having to say one side in a given conflict is right and the other is wrong. Because God doesn't grant any of their priests superpowers, nor do any of the pagan gods worshipped in Sahud or the barbarian lands.

Keep in mind the Kami all over Sahud. I don't think it fits the Christians though, true.

I personally don't think it fits the setting well at all, at least not unless it's a really rare trait. It's a world where wizardly magic exists, but there's nothing provable about religion other than demons and Hell being confirmed real so that there's still room for religious conflict between say Catholics and Protestants, Christians and Muslims, Sunni and Shiite, and so on without having to say one side in a given conflict is right and the other is wrong. Because God doesn't grant any of their priests superpowers, nor do any of the pagan gods worshipped in Sahud or the barbarian lands.

You're right about that. I forgot that clerics are wizards in this setting. So never mind.

I'd honestly love to see a Dungeon Fantasy adaptation guide for Banestorm. Tips on how to adapt the setting into a dungeon-punk world; adapting the Adventuring Professions to Ytarria (especially the divine classes*); appropriate dungeons for the setting, etc.

*And there's a perfect method of justifying Divine Favor, already in GURPS Banestorm: Mysticism. Just restrict it to individuals with the Divine Favor advantage instead of True Faith. Leave the origins of such powers completely unexplained, though with hints from Elves and Dwarves about "The Touch of the Eternal", and unrelated to Arcane Magic.

Another thing I'd like to see is changing the rules for Magic and Mana Levels into something less absolute and punishing. Thanks to GURPS Thaumatology we have new options. Instead of being a No Mana area, the Great Desert is a Very Low Mana region with pockets of Low and No Mana (or maybe drop No Mana entirely, as that's just boring for Mages). Perhaps Caithness is a region full of pockets of Wild Mana littered across the Low Mana region; so Megalan Wizards are less bothered by how harder it is to cast magic there, then the risk of unpredictable magical effects.

Banestorm has mystics. These are rare even compared to mages, and while their existence doesn't prove anything theologically, they work as though their faith was true. Wizardry should probably not use divine favor, but these folks are a near-perfect fit.

RPM can work and fit well if you're willing to tweak it enough. My tweaks where to cap magery at a low number, forbid ritual adept, require spells to be known (you can't make it up, but it costs no points to have access to a ritual), and to strongly encourage using the Specialization Traits from pyramid 66. Its not a perfect fit, but it was good and different. Also, path of Gate isn't taught, because you've got to overcome this massively overgrown botched spell that covers the planet,

Imbuments I would categorize as at best an incomplete fit: They aren't scholarly, aren't comprehensive, and fit a particular type of action. I could see a couple of imbument wielders floating around, but not many.

Threshold magic actually is a pretty good fit. big exertions by mages rather than small ones works well in banestorm.

Ritual Magic also works well, possibly alongside the standard system.

Realm magic also fits, though in this case it looks fairly close to the standard system.

Sorcery I would not recommend, but that's because sorcery has left a bad taste in my mouth. I strongly prefer magic as powers. The difference in game play between the two is strong, but building the actual "spells" is pretty similar. Magic as powers is a decent fit, but not particularly strong compared to some of the other options.